Not Chewing - Popping!
by shadowanddancer
Summary: It really takes a lot to push Holly over the edge. Gail, it seems, has a special talent for it.


Holly liked to think she was a pretty patient person. Slow to anger, good head on her shoulders. At least that's what people tell her. These past few weeks, though, her fabled patience was being tested to its limits.

At first, it was innocuous enough. She had a corner of the library she liked to call her own – it was nice and quiet, way in the back, where no ever came and she could study undisturbed. That was, at least, until the arrival of the Blonde Annoyance. One day, she just appeared seemingly out of thin ar, plopped herself two tables over and started reading, of all things, a comic book.

Holly had eyed the combat boots perched on the tabletop and the careless posture with mild irritation, but decided it wasn't worth the conflict. With barely more then a roll of her eyes, she put the newcomer out of her mind and went back to her books.

It wouldn't be so annoying if it had stayed a simple invasion of her preferred space. Much to her chagrin, over the course of the next few days, the blonde apparently took on a relentless quest to disrupt the hell out of Holly's study time.

First, a pen tapping on the wooden surface of the library table.

Then the crinkling of Cheetos's packets as the blonde chewed in the noisiest way possible.

Then music – if you could call it that – playing so loud she could hear every bit of it over the blonde's headphones.

Holly was sure she was doing it on purpose. She could feel herself being watched, even though the blonde was never looking her way when she lifted her eyes. It was the single most infuriating thing, but Holly was determined to be the better person and ignore it all. The more she ignored it, though, the worse it got.

The latest of the Blonde Annoyance's scheme to drive Holly up the wall was popping gum. She'd blow a big pink bubble and the resulting pop would echo though the normally silent room like a gunshot.

Calm, level-headed Holly was about to blow a gasket.

_POP!_

Holly took a deep breath and tried to focus on her anatomy book.

_POP!_

She had a paper due in three days and there was no way she could afford any wasted time.

_POP!_

There were, of course, more important things than a boorish ass who clearly had nothing better to do with her time other than make a nuisance out of herself.

_POP!_

She really needed to finish that paper.

_POP!_

"Would you stop?!" Holly finally snapped.

Blue eyes looked up from her comic book and blinked slowly.

_POP!_

Holly gritted her teeth. "Stop that!"

A pale eyebrow quirked up. "What?"

_POP!_

"That!"

A smirk. "You're gonna have to be more specific, nerd."

_POP!_

Holly was two seconds away from flying at the other girl's neck. "Stop that infernal noise!"

"Aw, you don't like blowing bubbles?" The blonde pulled a mock-sad face. She threw her comic at the table and got to her feet, stretching like a cat. "You should relax, nerd, a little fun won't kill you."

_POP!_

Holly closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. _Deep breaths, Holly. You can be reasonable. Maybe she doesn't mean anything by it._

"I have a paper due in three days and I can't concentrate when you do that, can you please stop?" She asked as nicely as she could.

"Really?" The blonde frowned thoughtfully, walking over and leaning on Holly's table. "You should get that checked out then, a short attention span can't be good to a-", a quick glance at her books, "med student."

_POP!_

Holly shot off her chair in an instant. "Stop it, damn it!"

The blonde smirked, leaning forward until she was almost nose to nose with Holly. "Make me, nerd."

_POP!_

Later on, Holly wouldn't be able to recall exactly what made her react as she did. She blamed it on the stress. On the infuriating blonde's stupid leather jacket, which always did weird things to Holly. Or maybe it was the smell of the bubblegum that triggered some unknown part of her brain and removed all impulse control.

Before Holly knew it, though, she wasn't just smelling the bubblegum, she was tasting it on the blonde's tongue as they kissed. It was a furious, desperate kiss – a kiss unlike any other Holly had ever experienced. There was no tenderness or finesse in their liplock, just passion and frustration that crashed against them in rolling waves.

Without conscious thought, Holly had the blonde pushed up against the table, wrists pinned to the flat surface. Holly's senses were on overdrive, dominated by everything about the woman held tightly in her arms. The smell of leather, the softness of pale skin, the tiny sounds that escaped her throat, even the taste of the gum rolling between their tangled tongues was intoxicating.

Holly was drowning in sensation, and her head was spinning, trying to take in everything at once. She was so lost in her mounting lust she didn't realize the tables had turned until she found herself perched on the table, an eager blonde pressed closely between her thighs. Her books had been unceremoniously swept to the floor with a dull thud, and she would have protested had it not been for the hot tongue running up the side of her arched neck.

"God!" Holly whimpered, burying her fingers in the soft blonde mane, trying to hold her in place.

"I answer to Gail too," said a husky voice right against her ear before sharp teeth closed around the outer shell, drawing a tortured groan out of Holly. "Shhh, nerd, we're in a library. Wouldn't want to get caught, would you?"

Holly opened her mouth to protest the unflattering nickname and Gail took the chance to smash their lips together, silencing her words before they could take shape. Coherent thought flew out of her head the moment Gail's lips made contact with hers once again. There was no thought behind her actions as Holly's arms and legs wrapped around the smaller woman and pulled her in as close as she could. It was a different sort of kiss this time and she felt it all the way to her toes. Gail kissed her slowly, with the confidence of someone intent on exploring every inch of her mouth.

It was maddening, how quickly Holly had been taken over by the exasperating blonde. She felt so out of control, so completely unlike herself – it was as exhilarating as it was terrifying. Holly was aware, in the back of her mind, that they were in a library and could get caught at any moment, but right at that moment she was too busy trying not to melt in a puddle as Gail robbed her of her breath with every sweep of her tongue.

Air was becoming an issue so their kiss wound down and, almost reluctantly, Gail pulled away, leaning her forehead against Holly's. They were panting against each other's lips, sharing the same air. Holly's eyes opened and she took in Gail's flushed cheeks. Up close, the blonde was a lot less irritating and completely, breathtakingly beautiful.

"Hey, um." Gail grinned at her bashfully, as if suddenly realizing they hadn't been properly introduced.

"Hi, uh- Holly. That's me," Holly stammered, tongue-tied as the blonde pulled away and looked off to the side.

"Uh, hey, Holly."

"You said that already," Holly quipped, a little thrown by the sudden awkwardness that descended upon them, especially in light of their impromptu makeout session.

"You know, it sounded familiar," Gail gave a half-hearted smirk, taking another step back, straightening her jacket. "So, um."

"So…"

"I should, uh, leave you to your paper then," Gail cleared her throat, glancing at the scattered books, then towards the library's exit.

Holly bit her lip, torn between the knowledge that she did have a paper to finish and the need to ask Gail to stay.

Hearing no protest, Gail nodded resolutely to herself and quickly strode towards the exit, barely pausing to collect her long-forgotten comic book.

"Gail, wait!" Holly called out, jumping off the table to catch up with the blonde.

Gail stopped, turning around. "Yeah?"

"Will I see you tomorrow? Here?" Holly blurted out before she could talk herself out of it.

Gail blinked, then a shy smirk curved her lips. "Yeah. I'll be here. Still got to finish this issue." She raised her comic slightly as proof.

"Great!" Holly grinned happily. "No gum, though, please?"

"I don't know, it did yield pretty good results today," Gail chuckled, turning around once again to be on her way.

_POP!_

"Later, nerd!"


End file.
